


What Doesn't Kill You

by chimaeracabra



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Crushes, Cutesy, F/M, Fluff, Protective Bucky Barnes, Shy Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 02:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10754679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra
Summary: Celia is injured on a mission, and Bucky regrets not being close enough to protect her.





	What Doesn't Kill You

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

            "Celia!" Bucky calls, and by the time she stops shooting, she can see him dropkicking the agent who had been pointing his AR-15 in her direction. The soldier had only called out to her in order to alert her, in case the enemy shot before Bucky had a chance to incapacitate the guy. Cleaning up what was left of Hydra's mess had proven to be more time-consuming than anyone would have hoped for. But for Celia, it's just a regular day at work.

            "The bio-device has been secured," Natasha confirms over coms what sounds like with exhaustion. Celia smiles, unable to wait to share details in debriefing later and see whether she can one-up the redhead in terms of who got it worse on this mission. It was something Celia and Natasha had begun to do, a bit of a joke just to keep each other on their toes out in the field.

            "Great," Steve chimes in, "Mission accomplished. Ladies, to the jet now. Boys, cover on the way out."

            "Aye, aye," Celia jokes, shooting her last rounds at an enemy who thought she didn't see him.

            "Already there," Clint explains.

            "I believe he said _ladies_ ," Vision adds, and Celia continues to the jet while she watches him soar overhead before landing, eying the landscape where she had just finished a shootout. She giggles, Bucky not too far ahead of her. She feels so tired, suddenly, as if she's draining with every step that she takes. She catches sight of Steve running parallel to her, Natasha catching up. The redhead is on Celia's left when she slows down enough to notice something dripping from Celia's suit.

            "You're hit," she says, loudly, wanting to be heard over the noise of the jet as they approach.

            "What? Wait until we get back to the Compound before you start comparing battle scars," Celia responds, jokingly. But the exhaustion she had begun to feel intensifies with every step that she takes. Steve hurries two or three feet ahead of Celia, having heard what Natasha said. His eyes widen when he spots the wound.

            "Celia, you've been shot," he says, pulling his helmet off. She looks on at the jet not too far ahead of them and nearly collapses, Steve and Natasha both catching her under the arms. With their help, they bring her back into the jet much faster than she could have managed on her own. And as the shock begins to wear off, the pain settles in. Celia gasps, and her whimpering is suddenly cause for concern. Bucky's eyes are wide when he sees Celia bleeding, clutching her wound as Steve and Natasha help her to sit down.

            "Clint, Celia's been shot. We need to get back to the Compound as soon as possible," Steve states immediately. Clint glances back to see what's going on.

            "Go," Steve commands, and the jet lifts. It's in the air before Vision phases in and Steve is already cutting Celia's suit at the site of injury. Her breathing has intensified, and seeing her blood leaking onto the floor only makes the experience all the more terrifying.

            "Just look at me," Steve says warmly, giving her a toothless smile, "You're going to be okay, Celia—but I'm gonna need you to stay calm." She swallows hard and nods.

            "Vision, do you mind taking a look? Can you tell me the degree of injury?" Steve asks.

Celia closes her eyes a moment, feeling a hand move hers away from clasping the injury on her left side. She can feel everyone's eyes on her, and sways, weaker than she had been on her way into the jet. Her head nearly hits the floor, but something cool and rather hard meets it before it has the chance to slam. Vision's voice becomes somewhat of an echo in her ears.

            "…Intercostal, and blood loss will lead to death long before we reach the Compound…"

            Celia gasps, making her pain much worse, and it finally registers to her that Bucky has picked her back up and laid her flat on a reclined seat.

            "How long?" Steve asks, the colour drained from him.

            "Average of three to eight minutes, and I calculate that it may have already been two."

The tranquility of his voice just about calms Celia down.

            "Can't you phase and reach in to pull the bullet out?" Steve asks, sounding calm himself, yet somehow urgent at the same time.

            "It's too small a space. The risk of me snatching a lung is too great. You must pull…"

She just about passes out when Bucky turning her head straight and tapping her cheek causes her to look up at him.

            "Stay with us, doll," he says, looking absolutely remorseful. He should have been closer. She'd probably been shot just moments before he called out to her on the ground. And Celia sees two of him in her diplopia. The blood loss is getting so severe that she realizes she is actually dying. Natasha is already grabbing a first aid kit. Weakly, Celia reaches for the wound, blood wet beneath her shaking hand. The fluid has saturated her suit by now. She feels that cold metal hand clamp her wrist, the flesh one bringing the other wrist to meet it and rest over her head. Unable to tell up from down, Celia mutters nonsensically.

            Her head turns in time to find Steve pulling off his gloves, throwing them aside as Natasha pours some type of solution over his hands. A presence around Celia's legs causes her to try and lift her head, but the weakness is so severe now that she can barely hold it up for a second.

            "You must try to hold still, Ms. Summers." Vision's calming voice echoes in Celia's ears. She shivers, feeling so cold suddenly, and further exposed where Natasha cuts into her suit even further, and at this point, Celia figures that she might as well be naked. She feels tightness at her shins, and realizes that Vision is holding her firmly in place. Bucky's grip on her wrists becomes uncomfortable, and she is simply confused until a world of pain greets her and she cringes away from the sudden invasion inside her wound. She screams at the top of her lungs, the pain knocking her closer to consciousness than she had previously been.

            Steve's hand pulls away and he momentarily presses her hips into the seat where she's lying. She fights for dear life against Bucky's grip.

            "Hold still, doll," he says gently.

            "Nat!" Steve calls, and a new pair of hands meet Celia's waist to keep her pinned.

            "You gotta be still—I'll be as quick as I can," Steve promises, meeting Celia's eyes for a split second. The Captain only wishes that Wanda were there to trick Celia's mind into being elsewhere. Despite knowing that he's helping Celia, the agony he's causing her is distracting as Vision directs him. Celia's screaming hurts Bucky's ears, but he never budges an inch as Steve digs into the wound. She doesn't feel the pain for much longer, lasting only about four more seconds before blacking out.

 

            The sound of a machine beeping wakes Celia. Gradually, her eyes flutter open. The room is dark and there's a figure in the corner, sitting in a chair. It takes Celia a handful of seconds to recognize Bucky. She sighs, and he looks up from his phone, sitting to his full height and gazing over with wide eyes.

            "Hey, doll," he says, sounding beyond relieved. Celia swallows hard. The pain is present, and she figures that she must have awoken due to whatever painkiller she'd received wearing off. She winces, her eyes watering. Bucky hurries over and scans her as if to search for more wounds.

            "You're going to be alright, sweety," he promises, pressing a button at the head of the bed, "No—stop trying to move—you're safe. I promise," Bucky says hastily, placing a hand on Celia's shoulder and tucking the hair behind her ear. It is less than thirty seconds before Dr. Cho walks into the room with an injection. Celia generally does not fear needles, but the pain she's in causes her to want to roll away from the item.

            "Easy Cel," Bucky says, placing a hand calmingly on her wrist as Dr. Cho explains to her that she has morphine, and administers the drug. The scent is very funny, and Celia just closes her eyes and tries to take deep breaths, but that's what the problem was: it _hurt_ to take deep breaths. The injury had occurred at the ribs, and there was no way she could breathe without agony.

            "Steve…no…but she's awake. And in pain," Bucky says, his voice lowering as he steps away from the bed and closer to the door. Dr. Cho explains the injury to Celia, tells her she's lucky to be alive, and that she has her team to thank. She adds that Celia should try to refrain from moving too much, tapping her hand in a friendly way before leaving the room. She pauses to let Bucky know that Celia will be just fine, and that if he wants to get some sleep, it would be okay to leave her, as she'd be checking in every few hours.

            "Thanks, doc. I'm just gonna stay a bit longer," Bucky explains before finishing up his phone call with Steve.

            "Goodnight, Barnes. Summers." Dr. Cho exits through the sliding door.

Celia finds herself afraid to speak. Breathing itself hurts enough. She only hopes that the morphine will start taking effect sooner rather than later. Bucky sighs and starts towards the bed.

            "How do you feel?" he asks, resting that shiny hand on the bed.

            "…Hurts to breathe," she whispers, not wanting to exhale and inhale, wincing. Bucky grimaces.

            "You ever been shot?" she adds, grinning. He laughs.

            "Yeah. Not in the ribs, though. So believe me, honey, I sympathize."

Celia blushes; he seems to frequently call Wanda and Natasha "doll," too, and she figures that's just how he is with women, but he had never called her "honey" before. Bucky has always been kind to her when she works with him, but he had gone out of his way to make sure she'd be alright by staying in the infirmary until she woke. She wonders why he cared so much.

            "Steve?" she asks.

            "He's on another mission. We got a hit on some Hydra rats almost as soon as we got you back here. Steve says he's sorry, for all the pain, but he saved your life, so…"

Celia smiles weakly again.

            "We woulda lost you if Vision hadn't been there to help out," Bucky explains, smoothing his metal thumb across her forehead briefly as he places his hand in her hair. Celia closes her eyes. At last, the pain is gradually abating, or maybe it's just Bucky's touch soothing her.

            "So, why did you stay?" she asks.

            "I had to make sure you'd be okay. Besides, they've got Wanda now, and Sam, so they don't need me…I thought you might like to see a familiar face when you woke up. I didn't want you to be alone."

Celia's heart does summersaults and she gazes up at Bucky, whose smile is the most beautiful damn thing she's ever seen.

            "You're too kind," she says, exhaling.

Bucky blushes, taking his hand out of her hair and glancing away nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

            "A-anyway. I should go and let you rest. It's getting pretty late."

But as he turns to start for the door, she reaches out and grabs his metal wrist. He pauses, looking back with some surprise.

            "Can you…stay? Just until I fall asleep again? I mean, it's kinda boring lying here like this."

Bucky smiles, nodding.

            "Want me to turn on the TV?" he asks.

            "Why not?"

He finds the remote and flicks through the channels, pausing on the news. There's a story about their mission earlier, the facility they infiltrated.

            "Oh, you probably don't wanna watch tha—"

            "No, leave it," Celia says, gripping his metal wrist again. He pauses to gaze what looks like shyly at Celia's hand.

            "Yes, ma'am," he says. She releases him and he walks over to the chair he was sitting in, pulling it with ease closer to the bed. He sits beside Celia and they watch the news, making random comments here and there about the stories. Eventually, Bucky falls asleep where he sits, and Celia realizes that he must have been there with her much longer than she knew. In truth, he did not want to leave until he knew she would be okay. He had blamed himself for this happening in the first place. Steve had paired him off with her, and he hated that he hadn't been able to protect her.

            His arm is resting on the edge of the bed. Curiously, Celia eyes him. It's not this frequently that she gets this close to him. He is beautiful, breathing quietly, his massive chest expanding and compressing rhythmically. There's a bruise on the side of his head and just a bit of stubble beginning to show on his heavily structured jaw. The lamp beside him illuminates him perfectly, and Celia just stares at him for a while. Right when she's going to reach for his metal hand, Dr. Cho breezes back into the room. She pauses upon seeing Bucky sitting there, asleep.

            "He should go to bed," she says.

            "I asked him to stay."

Dr. Cho smiles in some way that is almost secretive as she approaches to check Celia's I.V..

            "…What?" Celia asks. Dr. Cho glances at Bucky, shaking her head.

            "The man has a crush, Summers. It's been more than twelve hours. He refused to leave and stood watching through the OR window while I patched you up." Celia's heart skips a beat. She glances at Bucky dreaming.

            "He, uhm, said he wanted to be here when you woke up. I told him it could be hours, and he wouldn't leave." Celia fights a smile, "I'd confidently diagnose him as love-struck." Celia looks away from him shyly, not that he would have seen her blushing.

            "Anyway, how are you feeling now?"

            "The pain is minimal, but I'm kind of hungry."

            "I'll have someone bring you something," Dr. Cho announces before leaving the room. Celia continues to stare at Bucky sleeping, the TV becoming white noise on the wall overhead. Bucky sighs, turning slightly in the chair, and she can feel his soft exhales as his mouth hangs open partly. She realizes that he hasn't even changed out of the suit he'd worn on the mission. All he's done is kick off his shoes. Celia assumes that Dr. Cho's diagnosis was accurate. He'd stayed even after being assured that she was going to be fine.

            Somebody enters the room with a tray to fix over the bed, and realizing that they are about to move Bucky's arm away and wake him up, Celia reassures them that she can just hold the plate. Once she's left alone with Bucky again, she eats and continues looking at him. After placing the plate aside, she reaches for his wrist, pausing several times. Celia makes herself comfortable, lying on her right side, allowing her fingers to cup his wrist. Several seconds pass and Bucky's shiny hand supinates, and the fingers intertwine with hers. All the while, his breathing pattern doesn't change, and she stares at his face with a thumping heart to be sure he's still sleeping.

            She can't stop smiling to herself for a few minutes, enjoying the sensation as her body heat transfers into the limb, warming him. It isn't long before she falls asleep.

 

            "Buck…" his eyes flutter open. Steve grins down at him before his gaze travels to Celia, who is fast asleep. Bucky squints at the sunlight that floods into the room. With widened eyes, Bucky nearly pulls his hand out of Celia's light grasp, but Steve just smiles knowingly.

            "I knew there was a reason you didn't want to leave for that next mission," he explains, crossing his brawny arms, "Dr. Cho says you've been in here all night." Bucky blushes madly.

            "I just wanted to make sure she was okay," he says quietly, not wanting to wake Celia up.

            "I hated hearing her scream like that on the jet. I dunno if I woulda been able to pull that bullet out myself," Bucky explains, gazing apologetically at Celia. Steve laughs.

            "Cho said you stayed even after you knew she'd live."

            "I didn't want her to be alone. How'd you like to get shot and have a near-death experience, and wake up to find no one there?"

            " _Someone's_ in love."

Bucky's cheeks blaze their hardest.

            " _So_?" Bucky says defensively, "Maybe I _am_. Now wouldja _shut up_ , Steve? You're gonna wake her." But when Bucky looks back at Celia, he finds that she's awake. Judging by her embarrassed expression, he realizes that she must have been awake long enough to hear the most revealing part of this conversation.

            " _Awkward_ ," Steve says, cocking a golden brow.

            "I fucking _knew_ it!" Natasha explains, causing both Bucky and Celia to jump. She was standing unnoticed behind Steve the whole time.

            "That's cute. Just glad you're okay," the redhead adds, walking around Steve to stoop and plant a kiss on Celia's forehead.

            "Steve, debriefing," she says, starting out of the room. Steve gives the pair a wink before following suit.

            "I guess you can sit this one out since you decided to stay here with your broad all night," he says without looking over his shoulder. The two look at each other shyly, hands still clasped. Bucky clears his throat.

            "Uhm…good morning."


End file.
